Jemima | Pakistan

Jemima Goldsmith, the former spouse of PTI founder Imran Khan, on Thursday alleged that the government was reccomending that the former premier’s son travel to Pakistan on National Identity Cards for Overseas Pakistanis (Nicops) as they would have “no British protection”. She issued the statement on the social media platform X in response to Information Minister Attaullah Tarar. On Wednesday, the minister said Imran’s children were welcome to visit Pakistan on Nicops, for which no visa was required, provided they “fully comply with the laws of Pakistan during their stay”. “We all know that the reason you are refusing their visas and recommending they travel on Nicop cards (which they don’t have presently) is because that way they will have no British protection if you choose to arrest them on arrival,” Jemima said on X. Kasim and his older brother Suleiman live in London with their mother and will have to travel to Pakistan to meet Imran, who is imprisoned at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail. Tarar’s suggestion on We...

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday that the children of incarcerated former premier Imran Khan were “welcome” to visit Pakistan on their National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (Nicop). He made the remarks on X, in response to a post by Imran’s former spouse, Jemima Goldsmith, who had appealed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif regarding the delay in issuing visas to his sons, Kasim and Sulaiman. “Imran Khan’s phone call will be arranged on Eid day with his children as done in the past as well,” the information minister said. “His children are welcome to visit Pakistan on their Nicop cards as Pakistani citizens for which no visa is required. However, they will fully comply with the laws of Pakistan during their stay,” he said. Kasim and his older brother Suleiman live in London with their mother and will have to travel to Pakistan to meet Imran, who is imprisoned at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail. In her appeal to PM Shehbaz on Monday, Jemima had stated, “My sons Sulaiman and Kasim Khan app...

Jemima Goldsmith, the former spouse of PTI founder Imran Khan, made a “direct appeal” to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday to allow her sons, Kasim Khan and Suleiman Khan, to meet their incarcerated father. Kasim and his older brother Suleiman live in London with their mother and will have to travel to Pakistan to meet Imran, who is imprisoned at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail. Jemima said in a post on X: “My sons Sulaiman and Kasim Khan applied for visas in January (again… ) to allow them to visit their father, Imran Khan, in Pakistan. The Pakistan consulate states that online visa processing normally takes 7–10 working days. It has now been 60 days.” She said the delay in the issuance of visas was despite Defence Minister Khawaja Asif publicly “promising that they (Kasim and Suleiman) could safely travel there to see their father after four years”. She added that PM’s spokesperson for foreign media, Mosharraf Zaidi, had made a similar commitment. “Meanwhile, they (Kasim and Suleiman) are not allowed to spea...